situated within the medieval center of the city of zamora, spain, the new office building occupies the old church garden, near the river and facing the cathedral and its square. the architects, madrid-based studio alberto campo baeza, played with a simple and powerful dichotomy of material and space, the synchronicity and unity of heavy and light, earth and air. a mammoth stone wall encloses the angular footprint of the site with simple voids strategically creating apertures in the solid membrane, creating moments to view the outer world.

at the entrance, a cornerstone with the phrase ‘HIC LAPIS ANGULARIS MAIO MMXII POSITO’ engraved into it’s face, representing the past, deeply rooted into the soil: the memory. upon crossing the colossal threshold the feeling of weight and solidity are lifted in a serene courtyard where the floors and walls are made of the same tranquil rock, interrupted on occasion by a tree whose color is intensified by the soft neutral tones of the surroundings.

in the middle, white slender columns support thin floor planes wrapped in a double glass skin made up of panels measuring 6 meters by 3 meters, 1.2 centimeters thick. its crystalline structure is composed entirely of glass planes and clear structural silicon, including the corners, trapping within the interstitial gap the true material of the building: air. a complete inversion from the outer wall that defines the property, the office spaces in turn offer complete thermally controlled transparency, on the corner of which ‘HOC VITRUM ANGULARIS MAIO MMXII POSITO’ is marked with acid looking towards the sky: the future.

Bizarre project, but incredibly beautiful and thoughtful. I like the way he hides the hyper-transparent glass building behind a thick stone wall, as if to mediate between the medival city and this new semi-private space and office building. And those glass to glass to glass corners are f***ing amazing. Clear Cut!!

I was born in Zamora and I usually come back. This building is closed. Nobody can visite it. We only can know it by this article. What is the meaning of Architecture? It is a nonsense. My English is not good. Sorry

I would like to see the building performance between the 2 glass layers in natural weather condition. Not so thoughtful afterall then.
Deceptively pictures with not a soul in it and a lone picture taken to “animate” it.

I’m always disappointed when architecture is presented out of the context of it’s lived-in functionality. Buildings only exist like this very briefly, or unless, as Mercedes points out, they have no purpose (but to meditate on the thing). I think a greater achievement would be for the building to retain this marvelous spatial dynamic with the textures of books (say), random lighting, leaves and people moving about within. It is an amazing concept realized but one that is presented, as most structures initially are, in a vacuum of life, which is at odds completely with it’s ultimate purpose and cultural link. Ephemeral.

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